Lithium: The Key to the Electric Car Revolution, CNBC's LeBeau Reports
NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Report has called Lithium the new gasoline and with many citing it as the key to the electric car revolution, its increasing global importance is being brought to light, CNBC's Mike Santoli reported on this morning's "Squawk on the Street."
For more on the Lithium demand for electric cars, CNBC's Phil LeBeau joined the program from Central Valley, Nevada as the great lithium race is picking up steam.
"There's a 15% annual growth in lithium as far as demand worldwide. Why? One of the key drivers is the fact that lithium is essential to the batteries in electric vehicles," LeBeau noted.
"Most of the new Lithium demand is being driven by larger format lithium-ion batteries, more and more are we needing lithium to power electric vehicles," Pure Energy Minerals CEO Patrick Highsmith told CNBC.
Moreover, Highsmith explained that while smaller, personal electronic devices use grams of lithium carbonate, electric vehicles use kilograms of the mineral.
"It's the increasing global demand for electric vehicles, which makes it so valuable. EV sales topped half a million last year and are on pace to exceed that this year as well," LeBeau explained.
Additionally, China, the number one market for electric vehicle sales, is also where most of the batteries are made. However, as LeBeau pointed out the reason he's in "the middle of nowhere Nevada," is because investors are noting the increase in demand for lithium, and new areas of where the mineral may be mined are being explored.